Friday selection box: Lalor can bring rivals to their knees

All four of my tips are from Cheltenham today, where it’s the Racing UK Tipstar final! Hopefully my selections live up to those of the finalists...

I tipped him at Ascot last time and between the second last and the last I thought it was job done. Not so.

He pinged two out but landed flat footed after being steadied into the last and was ultimately disappointing. In his favour is that he, like the current favourite Summerville Boy, is unpenalised.

And you don’t travel like he did last time, let alone with the Aintree bumper, without being a very good horse.

They got going a long way from home at Ascot too and I fancy if he could be held onto that little bit longer it might be a different story.

If I had to say the most likely winner it would be Western Ryder but, at the prices, the mount of Davy Russell, who could be a perfect partner for this keen but strong traveller, is going up.

This mare certainly has her own way of doing things and she got worked up again before running pretty free on chase debut 27 days ago.

She won both her races without the hood she wore last time and, for all I can see why it was reached for, it’s no bad thing it has been done away with here.

She was said to lack tactical speed as a hurdler but still managed a decent level of form and is likely to make a far better chaser. This is early days for her in this sphere and an opening mark of 123 looks very fair.

I interviewed Paul Nicholls before this horse ran at Sandown six days ago and the trainer suggested his charge was probably a little too high in the handicap.

The good news is he’s been eased 3lb since that run, the bad news is he still races off his old mark here. So I can see why he’s a 10-1 poke.

However, he looked set to win the Badger Ales last year under this rider off 1lb higher. He was poor last week but ran a solid race in first time cheekpieces on first start for nearly a year in the Badger Ales this time around and the first time blinkers make him a bet.

Five of his past six wins have been from the front and, for all Abracadabra Sivola will likely be on the front end, a return to front running tactics may see him to far better effect.

I’m surprised Rocky’s Treasure is as big as 7-1 given his progressive profile and his impressive run here last time.

Perhaps not overly impressive on the face of it but he was beaten by two horses who had had a run, one who looks very good and the other a course specialist who re-opposes here.

It was testing ground last time too and both his wins have come on a sound surface. He didn’t challenge up the favourable stand side in the straight either so there’s plenty to be positive about here off the same mark.

Tom Stanley's top tips for Friday: